Conventional card shoe apparatuses that are suitable for use in card games played in casinos or the like have been proposed. For example, a card shoe apparatus is disclosed in JP 1998-508236A in which a CCD image sensor and the related optical system components are incorporated in the card shoe. Also, a card reading window is provided in the exit of the card shoe. When a card passes through the exit of the shoe, the suit (type) and the rank (number) of the card are read through the card reading window.
However, such a conventional apparatus could not prevent a fraudulent act such as the insertion of false cards from the exit of the card shoe.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problem, and aims to provide a card shoe and a table game system with which it is possible to prevent the fraudulent insertion of cards into a card shoe used in the card game or the fraudulent dealing of cards, as well as the dealing of any card that should not be dealt onto the game table.